By Kazeem Ugbodaga.

The atmosphere was charged, all roads led to the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. From every nook and cranny of Lagos, they came rushing to the famous college. Both the good and the bad thronged the venue amidst tight security as police at the gate made use of bomb detectors to screen the large crowd surging into the college. On the expansive land of the Police College, a large dais was raised, garnished with modern allure. A band of mixed musical instruments played behind the podium as the choir thrilled the congregation with scintillating choruses in praises to God. Shortly after, an SUV pulled in front of the dais and a man stepped out of it as jubilation erupted among the large crowd at the college, the man they have been waiting for, the mouthpiece of God has just arrived.

This is Pastor William Kumuyi, General Superintendent, Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM. The event is the flag-off of the Lagos City-wide Crusade, being orchestrated by the DCLM in conjunction with the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN to harvest converts unto Jesus Christ. Over 15,000 congregation had thronged the venue for the kick-off of the great event, which will take Kumuyi round each of the old 20 Local Government in Lagos to hold crusade. With the theme: “Supernatural Power of God’s Wonders,” the crusade is packaged to showcase God’s supernatural power to harness souls, deliver the oppressed, break yoke, heal the sick, among others.

Kumuyi, centre, Segun Babatope ,right, and other pastors at the Ketu crusade

Prior to the kick-off of the crusade on 8 September, 2015, what to expect at the event had already been set earlier at a media parley to intimate Lagosians of the planned visitation of the power of God to arrest decadence in every nooks and crannies of the state. Coordinator of Lagos City Crusade, Pastor Joseph Fasanmi said: “If not for God’s abiding grace, our city, nay the state, could have gone under altogether. Lagos is yet far from being effectively reached with the gospel despite the presence of many churches. Although we are said to be in the era of change politically, we all know that over the past three months since a new administration came to be, real change has been measured in coming. While we salute the positive actions so far taken by Governor Ambode, we hasten nonetheless to state that unless the required spiritual renaissance and moral re-armament are put in place, enduring change in Lagos or in any other place for that matter will remain a pipe dream.”

Fasanmi added that unless the heart of man “is changed and turned around by God to begin to undertake positive designs, measures by government will be ultimately feeble and less impactful. Since 1999, respective governments in the state have striven to vastly improve our socio-political and economic space. The collective actions of the past governments have not served to sufficiently lift the state because moral and spiritual makeup of the citizenry is far from what they should be. The leaders themselves are out-crops of a depressed environment, who cannot be expected to provide enduring solutions to the multifaceted challenges facing mankind.”

He therefore said it was only a completely changed heart of man by God through the gospel that could bring about a fundamental and unadulterated transformation in the country’s socio-political and economic landscape. Fasanmi said all those nations that “have conquered the basic challenges of development have done so because at one time or the other in their conquered history, they had embraced the commanding imperatives of the gospel. The crusades will therefore serve and deal with the problem of acute unrighteousness with the objective of receiving God’s forgiveness and mercy. The crusades will also prayerfully bring down the power of God with a view to ameliorating the rather punishing challenges many daily contend with.”

Fasanmi’s words set the agenda for the crusade-to turn unrighteous men to righteousness through divine encounter with Christ. That was what occurred at the flag-off of the great event on 8 September at the Police College. Kumuyi ushered in the word of God with power. Kumuyi assured that in spite of the socio- economic uncertainties in the country, there is still a strong hope for Nigerians.

In a message entitled, “The Wonders of Supernatural Change,” Kumuyi emphasised that God had power to change all negative circumstances, assuring the congregation that no matter the challenges of life, which they had been facing and which they might have sought for solutions in different quarters, God would provide lasting solution to them.

Kumuyi, who pointed out that the greatest problem of man was sin urged those who were bound by chain of sins to urgently seek forgiveness from God. He said: “The Lord does not condemn sinners but to save them. Sinners must boldly take a step by confessing their sins. It is futile to think that it is impossible to live a righteous life. God is capable of saving sinners no matter the level of sin, which they have committed. Every work of Satan in your life must be reversed. Bad luck has come to an end. Sorrow and reproach have come to an end. This is a time for supernatural change. You must leave all your sins behind. God has declared that this day, salvation has come into your life. God will not reject you.”

With a call to salvation, thousands of worshippers filed out at the Ikeja crusade to profess faith in Jesus. The young, old, men, women and children ran out of the pew to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and saviour. With the altar call settled, Kumuyi would then offer prayers for healing, deliverance and other areas, with signs and wonders following as testified by the receivers of such miracles.

Since the flag-off of the crusade, Kumuyi has taken the message of change of life, attitude and character to Gbagada, Ketu, Ikorodu, FESTAC, Isolo, Ajegunle as at Tuesday. He still has Alimosho, Mushin, Epe, Agege, Badagry and other areas to visit this month for the sole reason of propagating the gospel of Christ and to give hope to the hopeless. So far, more than 100,000 have attended the crusades in Ikeja, Gbagada, Ketu, Ikorodu, FESTAC, Isolo and Ajegunle, with over 10,000 converts harvested for Christ, which signified a change of lifestyle from bad to good.

Deeper Life mass choir also ministered

In Ikorodu, he preached on, “Connection with the God of Wonders,” where the man of God added that: “Once there is connection with the God of wonders, miracle will take place. To get anything from God, there must be divine connection. You connect, salvation will come; you connect, healing will come.”

In each of the crusade locations, there were several claims of miracles. The miracles were instantaneous and the testimonies were shared by the testifiers immediately after they occur to prove doubting ‘Thomases’ wrong.

The case of Jumoke Adediran, who lives in Ikeja area of Lagos State is an example. She could not contain her joy last Tuesday, when she narrated her escape from the claw of rectal cancer. For her, it was a horrible experience she would never wish her enemy to go through. Like any other participant at the Lagos City-wide Crusade, Jumoke went to the crusade with great expectation. Two year ago, the devil afflicted her with cancer of the rectum. Initially, she did not know what it was, except that she was having strange feelings within her. But in May, last year, she was diagnosed of rectal cancer, which is the growth of abnormal cancerous cells in the lower part of the colon that connects the anus to the large bowel.

Immediately she heard of it, she rejected it, saying: “It is not my portion.” She took it spiritually and started praying, although she visited hospital for all the necessary things. At first, the doctors informed her they would carry surgery on it and, again, she rejected it. But when she eventually succumbed to the doctors’ option, they told her the situation had gone beyond their imagination, as the cancerous lump had entered into her private part.

The doctors, therefore, scheduled her for colostomy, which is a surgical procedure of bringing one end of the large intestine out through the stomach to enable her pass faeces, as against the normal use of anus. This, the doctors said, would help her rest her anus. Before the advice for colostomy, they directed her to undergo both hormone therapy and radiotherapy. Jumoke said: “I finished hormone therapy. I was also to do radiotherapy for four weeks. But two days into the treatment, faeces started coming out from my private parts and I was told to discontinue the radiotherapy. Now, they have scheduled me for colostomy, which is to puncture my stomach to rest my anus so that I will not be able to do my normal passing of faeces from the anus.

“I told God, ‘I am your child. Where do I go wrong?’ I have been praying. I cannot even sit well. When my husband told me that Daddy Kumuyi is coming to Police College, Ikeja, I said I must be there. I told God that I would not like to come back home with this sickness. As our daddy said that we should lay our hands were we have problem, I did and after the prayer, I could not see it again. Before, I could not sit down comfortably, but now I can sit down well.

“Before, when I hear about cancer, I believed that that is the end of the person’s life. Many people have gone with this ailment. But God did not allow it to claim my life. Even when I am not faithful, when I have anger, impatience and all the work of the fresh, God has been merciful unto me. That is why when our daddy made an altar call; I said whatever the devil wants to use against me will not stand. So, I have to come out again to rededicate my life to God. I said, ‘God, I give you everything. Have your way in my life.”

Jumoke was not alone in this praise for God’s manifested power. Augustine Akpan, an army officer, equally had his. In 2003, when he was at University of Calabar, he recalled, he lost his memory and started behaving abnormally. Augustine disclosed: “The thing will just come and go. In 2008, I got enlisted into the Nigerian Army. After the training and pass-out, I was posted to Lagos. In 2010, the enemy struck – the loss of memory came up again. Since then, I have been behaving abnormally. In the barrack, they call me, ‘General,’ because of the way I do behave abnormally. Whenever it comes on me, I do set things on fire. I have not been going to church, though I worship with Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC) occasionally. This night, my wife said let us go for this programme. I was not in the mood to be in the programme. However, I followed her to the programme. When the man of God was preaching and I said If God was really interested in my case, let me dedicate my life unto Him. When the Pastor made an altar call, I was among those who came out for the altar call. After that, I went back to my seat. For God to be interested in my life, my case was the first case to be mentioned. When that prayer was raised, something just left my memory. Now, I am well. Tomorrow, I will storm Ikeja Cantonment with the word of God. I was thinking that at the end of the day, I will find myself in the street as a complete madman. I have been in Psychiatric Hospital. I have drugs at home. But tonight, God has delivered me. I am okay; I am perfect. If God can deliver me, He can deliver anyone. I do not like attending to programme like this because of the torment. I was not only having mental problem, I was demon possessed; I was demonically tormented,” he said.

For Precious Ogbonna, it was also miraculous. She had a lump in her breast before going to the crusade. When Pastor Kumuyi asked those with any form of sickness to place their hands in that portion, Precious put up her left hand and placed the right one on her breast. While the man of God was praying, she received an instant healing.

Chinaza Odum was not left out. She informed that she had something moving round her back before she came for the crusade, but as Kumuyi was praying, she noticed something jumped out of her body and since then, she has been totally free.